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and every barbaric herd, O Sangarius, your streams shackled with mighty arches, thus you were enslaved by a sovereign's hand, you who before were uncrossable by boats, you who before were unyielding, you lie bound tight in an unbreakable stone fetter. And the empress Theodora at that time built the renowned church of the Holy Apostles. For there was indeed formerly a church to the Apostles there, built by Constantius the son of the great 160 Constantine, but not such as it is now, but much inferior to this one both in beauty and in size. And when Honorius was once emperor of the elder Rome, the nation of the Vandals migrated, and coming to Spain and from there crossing over to Libya with their own king Godigisel, they seized it. When he died leaving two sons, of whom one was Gunderic, and the other was called Gaiseric, the rule passed to Gaiseric alone, when Gunderic died. This Gaiseric, then, had taken both Carthage and Rome itself, and after ruling the Vandals for thirty-nine years, he paid his debt to nature. His son Huneric succeeded him, by whom very many terrible things were inflicted upon the Orthodox, as he forced everyone to become Arian. He, having ruled for eight years, died, with his nephew Gunthamund as successor. And he too, having become harsh to the Orthodox, ended his life after holding 161 power for twelve years. Then Thrasamund became leader of the Vandals, and he too was an Arian, not punishing the Orthodox, but only shunning them; and when he had spent twenty-seven years in power and had measured out his life, the leadership passed to Hilderic, who was the grandson of Gaiseric from his son Huneric. He neither treated the Christians harshly and was gentle to all, as he had by nature a soft character, whence he was also rather sluggish for wars. This Hilderic indeed became a familiar of Justinian while he was still a private citizen. But a certain Gelimer, a kinsman of Hilderic, a man of evil character, but energetic and most skilled at revolution, attempted a usurpation; and seizing his own master he delivered him to prison, and all those who were close to him. And as if rubbing off the accusation of tyranny, he writes to Justinian that he did not seize this rule out of love for it, but because Hilderic had become unfit for its administration. But the emperor sent back to Gelimer that he would not tolerate it, unless he should help the one who had been usurped, and punish the one who had usurped. 162 Therefore, having summoned the patrician Belisarius from the East, for the man was there fighting the Persians, he sends him to Libya with a heavy hand and a large fleet, having appointed him commander-in-chief with full powers over all the forces, with whom also Procopius of Caesarea accompanied, who related the events of the wars there more fully. Having sailed therefore to Libya, Belisarius pitched a camp. But Gelimer, learning this, commanded his brother Ammatas to kill immediately both Hilderic and his relatives, whom he was holding in prison. And they were killed. But Gelimer, having engaged with Belisarius and been routed, was driven out of Carthage and the other places, and Belisarius took control of all of Libya and subjugated it to the Roman empire, after the Vandals had been masters of it for ninety-five years. And he captured Gelimer himself alive with his wife and his children. And it is said that while he was being besieged with his household in a dreary land of the Maurusians, his 163 life-sustaining provisions failed, and that he sent a letter to the commander, whom Belisarius had appointed to the siege, asking him to send him one loaf of bread, a lyre, and a sponge. And he, not being able to understand for what reason the requested items were being requested by Gelimer, asked the bearer of the letter; and he said that he was asking for the bread, desiring to see one, since he had not seen one since he had been driven out of Carthage, as the barbarians with whom he was were living miserably, and the sponge, so that with it he might wipe away the tears from his eyes, and the lyre, so that with it he might lament his own misfortunes. But himself however

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καὶ πᾶσαν βαρβαρικὴν ἀγέλην, Σαγγάριε, κρατερῇσι ῥοὰς ἁψῖσι πεδηθείς, οὕτως ἐδουλώθης κοιρανικῇ παλάμῃ, ὁ πρὶν δὲ σκαφέεσσιν ἀνέμβατος, ὁ πρὶν ἀτειρής, κεῖσαι λαϊνέῃ σφιγκτὸς ἀλυκτοπέδῃ. καὶ ἡ βασιλὶς Θεοδώρα τότε τὸν τῶν ἁγίων ἀποστόλων περιώνυμον ναὸν ἐδομήσατο. ἦν μὲν γὰρ καὶ πρῴην τοῖς ἀποστόλοις ἐκεῖσε ναός, παρὰ Κωνσταντίου τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ μεγάλου 160 Κωνσταντίνου δεδομημένος, οὐχ οἷος δ' ὁ νῦν ἐστι, πολλῷ δὲ τούτου καὶ πρὸς κάλλος καὶ πρὸς ὄγκον λειπόμενος. Ὀνωρίου δέ ποτε τῆς πρεσβυτέρας βασιλεύοντος Ῥώμης, μεταναστὰν τὸ τῶν Οὐανδήλων ἔθνος καὶ εἰς Ἰσπανίαν ἐλθὸν κἀκεῖθεν εἰς Λιβύην περαιωθὲν σὺν τῷ οἰκείῳ ῥηγὶ Γονδιγίσγλῳ κατέσχε ταύτην. ἐφ' υἱοῖς δὲ δυσὶ τούτου θανόντος, ὧν ἅτερος Γόνδαρις, ὁ δὲ λοιπὸς ἐκαλεῖτο Γιζέριχος, εἰς μόνον τὸν Γιζέριχον ἡ ἀρχὴ περιέστη, τοῦ Γόνδαρι τελευτήσαντος. οὗτος οὖν ὁ Γιζέριχος τήν τε Καρτάγεναν παρειλήφει καὶ τὴν Ῥώμην αὐτήν, καὶ ἐπὶ τριάκοντα καὶ ἐννέα τῶν Οὐανδήλων ἡγεμονεύσας ἐνιαυτοὺς ἀπέτισε τὸ χρεών. ὃν Ὀνώριχος ὁ υἱὸς διεδέξατο, ὑφ' οὗ πλεῖστα δεινὰ τοῖς ὀρθοδόξοις ἐπήχθησαν, ἀρειανίζειν πάντας καταναγκάζοντος. ὃς ἐπ' ἔτη ἄρξας ὀκτὼ ἐπὶ διαδόχῳ Γουνδαμούνδῳ τῷ υἱωνῷ τελευτᾷ. καὶ οὗτος δὲ βαρὺς τοῖς ὀρθοδόξοις γενόμενος, κατέλυσε τὴν ζωὴν ἐπὶ ἐνι161 αυτοὺς τὴν ἀρχὴν κατασχὼν δυοκαίδεκα. εἶτα Τρασαμοῦνδος τῶν Οὐανδήλων γέγονεν ἡγεμών, καὶ οὗτος Ἀρειανός, οὐ κολάζων τοὺς ὀρθοδόξους, μόνον μέντοι ἀποστρεφόμενος· καὶ τούτου δὲ ἔτη εἴκοσι καὶ ἑπτὰ διαγαγόντος ἐν τῇ ἀρχῇ καὶ τὸ βιώσιμον ἐκμετρήσαντος, εἰς Ἰλδέριχον ἡ ἡγεμονία μετέπεσεν, ὃς Γιζερίχου ἦν υἱωνὸς ἐξ Ὀνωρίχου τοῦ ἐκείνου παιδός. οὔτε δὲ χριστιανοῖς χαλεπῶς προσεφέρετο καὶ πᾶσι πρᾷος ἐτύγχανεν, ἅτε καὶ μαλθακοῦ τυχὼν ἤθους ἐκ φύσεως, ὅθεν ἦν καὶ πρὸς πολέμους νωθέστερος. οὗτος δὴ ὁ Ἰλδέριχος συνήθης γέγονε τῷ Ἰουστινιανῷ ἔτι ἰδιωτεύοντι. Γελίμερ δέ τις ὁμογενὴς Ἰλδερίχου, ἀνὴρ κακοήθης, δραστήριος δὲ καὶ νεωτερίσαι δεινότατος, ἐπέθετο τυραννίδι· καὶ τὸν οἰκεῖον κατασχὼν δεσπότην εἱρκτῇ παραδίδωσι καὶ τοὺς ὅσοι ἐκείνῳ ᾠκείωντο. ἀποτριβόμενος δ' οἷον τὸ τῆς τυραννίδος αἰτίαμα, γράφει πρὸς Ἰουστινιανὸν ὡς οὐ τῆς ἀρχῆς ἐρῶν ταύτης ἐδράξατο, ἀλλ' ὅτι Ἰλδέριχος ἀποπεφύκει πρὸς τὴν ταύτης διοίκησιν. ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς ἀνταπέστειλε τῷ Γελίμερι ὡς οὐκ ἀνέξεται, εἰ μὴ τῷ τυραννηθέντι μὲν βοηθήσει, τὸν δὲ τυραννήσαντα τιμωρήσεται. 162 διὸ τὸν πατρίκιον Βελισάριον ἐκ τῆς ἑῴας μεταστειλάμενος, ἐκεῖ γὰρ ἦν ὁ ἀνὴρ τοῖς Πέρσαις μαχόμενος, εἰς Λιβύην μετὰ χειρὸς βαρείας καὶ στόλου πέμπει πολλοῦ, ταῖς δυνάμεσιν ἁπάσαις ἐπιστήσας αὐτὸν ἀρχιστράτηγον αὐτοκράτορα, ᾧ καὶ ὁ Καισαρεὺς συμπαρωμάρτει Προκόπιος, ὃς τὰ περὶ τῶν ἐκεῖ πολέμων ἱστόρησε πλατυκώτερον. καταπλεύσας οὖν εἰς Λιβύην ὁ Βελισάριος χάρακα βάλλεται. ὁ δὲ Γελίμερ τοῦτο μαθὼν ἐντέλλεται τῷ ἀδελφῷ Ἀματᾷ τόν τε Ἰλδέριχον καὶ τοὺς αὐτοῦ συγγενεῖς, οὓς ἐμφρούρους κατεῖχεν, αὐτίκα κτεῖναι. καὶ οἱ μὲν ἀνῄρηντο. Γελίμερ δὲ συμβαλὼν τῷ Βελισαρίῳ καὶ τραπεὶς τῆς τε Καρχηδόνος ἐξέπεσε καὶ τῶν ἄλλων καὶ πάσης τῆς Λιβύης ἐκράτησε Βελισάριος καὶ τῇ βασιλείᾳ Ῥωμαίων ὑπέταξεν, ἐνενήκοντα καὶ πέντε ἐνιαυτοὺς τῶν Οὐανδήλων κυριευσάντων αὐτῆς. συνέσχε δὲ ζωὸν καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν Γελίμερα σὺν γαμετῇ καὶ τέκνοις αὐτοῦ. λέγεται δὲ πολιορκουμένῳ αὐτῷ μετὰ τῶν οἰκείων ἐν χώρᾳ λυπρᾷ τῇ τῶν Μαυρουσίων ἐπιλεῖ163 ψαι τὰ ζωαρκῆ, τὸν δὲ ἐπιστεῖλαι τῷ ταγματάρχῳ, ὃν ὁ Βελισάριος τῇ πολιορκίᾳ ἐπέστησεν, ἀξιοῦντα στεῖλαί οἱ ἄρτον ἕνα καὶ κιθάραν καὶ σπόγγον. καὶ ὃς συνιδεῖν οὐκ ἔχων ὅτου χάριν αἰτοῦνται παρὰ τοῦ Γελίμερος τὰ αἰτούμενα, τὸν τῆς γραφῆς ἠρώτησε κομιστήν· ὁ δὲ τὸν μὲν ἄρτον εἶπεν αἰτεῖν ἐπιθυμῶν τοῦτον ἰδεῖν, ἐπεὶ μὴ εἶδεν ἐξότου τῆς Καρχηδόνος ἐκπέπτωκε, τῶν βαρβάρων, παρ' οἷς ἦν, κακοβίων ὄντων, τὸν δὲ σπόγγον, ἵνα τούτῳ τῶν ὀμμάτων ἐκμάσσῃ τὰ δάκρυα, τὴν δὲ κιθάραν, ἵνα ταύτῃ τὰς οἰκείας συμφορὰς ἀποκλαύσηται. ἑαυτὸν δὲ ὅμως